Men given life jail terms for plotting attack on mass gathering of Jews

Two men have been given life sentences for planning what “likely would have been one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever carried out on British soil”.

Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, aimed to cause “untold harm” with an Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a mass gathering of Jews in Manchester.

However, their intentions were thwarted as they unknowingly laid bare their scheme to an undercover operative (UCO).

Saadaoui was told by a judge at Preston Crown Court that he must serve a minimum of 37 years in custody while Hussein will serve at least 26 years.

Saadaoui, of Abram, Wigan, and Hussein, of no fixed address, were convicted by a jury in December of preparing acts of terrorism between December 2023 and May 2024.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Wall told the defendants: “Had you been successful , this would likely have been one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever carried out on British soil.

“I am sure this would have led to the deaths of many people and serious injuries to many, many more.

“Your plan envisaged you and two others discharging AK-47s into a large crowd of marchers, who were unarmed and defenceless, and then doing it again in an urban area where the people on the streets would be equally defenceless.

“One-hundred-and-twenty bullets could have been discharged before any reloads were required. You planned to have spare magazines available.

“Your attack would have led to the deaths of people of all ages, including children.

“You are antisemitic. You intended to target the Jewish community. Your conversations and postings make it clear how deep-seated your hatred is for Jewish people.”

Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the life jail terms for the two men.

Writing on social media site X in response to the sentencing, the Prime Minister added: “I want to thank law enforcement for bringing these vile cowards to justice and reassure our Jewish community that we will never relent in our fight against antisemitism and terror.”

Main instigator Saadaoui aimed to get his hands on four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 900 rounds of ammunition.

Months earlier the father of two, originally from Tunisia, paid a deposit for the weapons and believed he had arranged for their importation with a like-minded extremist but who in fact was the UCO, referred to in court as Farouk.

Saadaoui told Farouk he could independently obtain a firearm via Sweden and indicated he was looking to bring guns from eastern Europe.

Separately he had bought an air weapon and had visited a shooting range.

Counter-terrorism police intervened on May 8 2024, with more than 200 officers involved, as Saadaoui was arrested at a hotel car park in Bolton when he went to collect some of the firearms, which had been deactivated.

No specific attack target site or date was identified but prosecutors said the defendants planned to launch a gun assault on an antisemitism march in the city by the end of summer 2024.

Their elaborate plan then involved putting on imitation paramedic uniforms to hijack an ambulance and head to the suburbs of north Manchester to kill more Jewish people ahead of martyrdom.

Mr Justice Wall commended the bravery of UCO Farouk.

He told the court: “His is a dangerous and difficult job. He undertook it with great skill and patience.

“He has potentially saved many lives by putting his own life on the line.

“I am not allowed to know his true identity, but I hope the remarks I make are passed on to him.”

Saadaoui hero-worshipped Islamic State (IS) terrorist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who orchestrated the 2015 Paris terror attacks in which 130 people were killed and hundreds more injured in gun attacks across the city.

He came to the attention of the authorities when he used 10 Facebook accounts, none of which were in his own name, to spread a torrent of Islamic extremist views, as Farouk was deployed to gain his trust online and later in person.

Saadaoui recruited fellow IS sympathiser Hussein, a Kuwaiti national, who worked and lived at a furniture shop in Bolton, Greater Manchester, to assist his plans.

The pair travelled to Dover, Kent, in March 2024 to conduct hostile reconnaissance on how a weapon could be smuggled through the port without detection.

On his return, Saadaoui travelled to Prestwich and Higher Broughton in north Manchester where he carried out similar surveillance on Jewish nurseries, schools, synagogues and shops.

A safe house was also secured in Bolton for the storage of the weapons as both men returned to Dover two months later where they believed they were watching the firearms coming into the country.

Giving evidence at his trial, Saadaoui denied he had an extreme ideology and claimed he was “playing along” with Farouk.

He said his intention was to sabotage the plans before they came to fruition as he aimed to cut up the weapons with an angle grinder and then alert the authorities.

On Friday, his barrister Felicity Gerry KC said: “Without Farouk, multiple deaths were not risked as Walid Saadaoui had no real ability to actually carry out what the jury found was being prepared.

“Farouk was the person who ‘imported’ the firearms from Africa to the UK. Farouk supplied the ‘safe house’ and Farouk identified Dover as a location for importation.

“Despite asking for weapons he was unable to source them without Farouk.”

The community could be “reassured” that her client had no real access to weapons, she submitted.

But the judge firmly rejected any suggestion that Saadaoui acted because he was entrapped into doing so.

He ruled Saadaoui’s dealings with Farouk were not the entirety of his terrorism planning and not the origins of his desire to carry out such actions.

Mr Justice Wall noted that Saadaoui had offered apologies to the Jewish community of Manchester for the words he used in conversations with Farouk that the jury heard, but not for his actions or intentions which he denied.

He said it was up to members of that community to decide whether to accept such an apology but in his judgment it was “born of self-interest” and there was no evidence of remorse.

Hussein refused to attend almost the entirety of the trial and on Friday he again would not come into the dock as his barrister Danny Robinson KC said he had been instructed to make no submissions and offer no mitigation.

He previously told detectives he was not part of any terror attack plan and said the evidence of the UCO was “fantasy”.

Mr Justice Wall said: “His cowardice in remaining in his cell rather than coming to court to face up to what he has done is a true sign of his character.

“Brave enough to plan to threaten an unarmed group with an AK-47 but not sufficiently courageous to face up for what he did.”

Saadaoui’s brother Bilel, 37, of Hindley, Wigan, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about the terror plan.

He was sentenced to six years in jail with an extended licence period of 12 months.

The judge told Bilel Saadaoui: “The information you could have given to the police would have been very significant.

“You would have been able to identify your brother as a likely terrorist. You would have been able to identify Amar Hussein as his accomplice.

“You would have been able to alert the police to the imminent nature of the likely attack.”